New Tracks
by Sachan2294
Summary: This takes place twenty years in the future. Due to some unusual circumstances Rose has had a baby with Dimka named Lucya. After killing her first Strigoi, she gets taken into an adventure concerning her parent's past. This is a story by my friend and I.
1. Chapter 1

**The Characters of New Tracks **

Rose's family. 

Janine Hathaway and Abe Mazur Olena Belikov and ?

Rosemarie Belikov Ismael Zmey Hathaway Dimitri Belikov

Lucya Roza Belikov

This is Rose's family. Nice and simple. Janine and Abe are her parents who, despite Rose's wishes, did have another kid whose name is Ismael (19). Abe picked this name out and Rose calls him Zmey. He just became a guardian. Rose and Dimka (amazingly) had their baby Lucya Roza (16) when Rose was 22. She is now 38. That's it.

Dimka's family.

Great grandma Yeva

Grandma Olena

Karolina Sonya Dimka Viktoria

Paul Zoya Sasha & Stepan Lucya Levi

Heidi Natasha Peter Klara Alex

This is how the go: It's by generation, Rose's family too. So you know the first three generations. Karolina has her 2 kids Paul (30) and Zoya (21). Sonya had two kids too Sasha (20) and Stepan (18) and Lucya (16) is Rose and Dimka's kids. Viktoria also had a kid when she was 18 (cause she's stupid) and his name is Levi (19). Then she smartened up and married Nickolai. Then Paul (who is the oldest) became the guardian of this royal Moroi women he fell in love with and they had a girl named Heidi (7). She lives with the Belikovs to avoid scandal. Then Zoya started having lots of kids with two different guys. There's just four (right now) Natasha(3) is her first. Peter(2) and Klara (2) are twins and Alex(almost 1) is their brother. Sasha went against the family tradition (much to Yeva's disapproval) and became a full fledged guardian so she has no kids. Yet. That's the Belikov family.

Lissa's family 

Christian Jr. Emilia Beatrice Andre Eric Rosemarie Damien Dawn Piper

Oh boy. Lissa and Christian. Since their parents are dead (tear) I decided to just start their tree with them. Lissa, intent of refilling her family line, just went crazy and had a barrage of children, starting from the time she was 21 (out of college). So Christian and her finally got to their "official court business". Lissa is now 38. Their first kid was Christian Jr. (17) and after him came Emilia(16). A few years later Beatrice (14) was born and soon after were the twins Andre(13) and Eric(13). A few more years went by. Keeping her promise to Rose, Lissa's third daughter was Rosemarie(9). After Rosey, Lissa had another set of twins, this time a boy, Damien(5) and a girl Dawn(5). The last kid (for now) is a girl named Piper(3). Amazingly, Lissa is able to keep up with all these kids and still be an awesome queen. All the kids live at the Court as does Rose's, Adrian's and Mia/Eddie's kids. I'll make Adrian's tree later along with Mia's/Eddie's.

Adrian's Family

Brandie Hunter Jordan

So I decided to keep Adrian's tree kind of simple. I gave him three kids, two boys and one girl. After he and Rose broke up, Adrian spent a few years "soul searching" as Rose puts it. In other words, he spent a lot of money traveling and drinking. He actually gave up smoking after his first kid was born. Adrian has not yet found the right person and honestly he never might, I haven't decided. He did stay with the mom of each kid for a while, and then took the kid with him. He made them his life and eventually returned to Court because he missed his friends. He now runs one of the bars/restaurants at Court and his daughter Brandie works there as a waitress. She was his first child and I think her name is self explanatory. She is 18 and a full Moroi. She loves her younger brothers Hunter (13) and Jordan(7). Jordan is the only sibling that's a dhampir child.

Mia and Eddie's Family

Eddie Jr. Carla

Fortunately for Eddie, one of his friends being the Queen helped his situation and he became a royal guardian as well. Since he lives at Court, he was able to settle down and have a family. It took them a while, but him and Mia finally got married seventeen years ago. They didn't want a big family (amazingly) and settled on two kids. Eddie Jr. (14) was the first kid and Carla (12) was their second. Mia is now a stay at home mom.

Jill's Family

Jill/ Jailbait and Christopher

Heather

After finding out she was the long lost Dragomir princess, it took Jill a while to get back to normal. Eventually Lissa and her came to terms with being sisters and Jill transferred to a school closer to the Court so that she could hang out with everyone on weekends. Around five years ago she got married to this royal. Like her mom, she became (a not too scandalous) dancer. The guy she married works at the bar (owned by Adrian) that she does appropriate early shows at. They had a girl about three years ago named Heather and Jill will eventually have more children but nowhere near as many as Lissa.

The kid's from oldest to youngest

Brandie Christian Jr. Emilia Lucya Eddie Jr. Beatrice Hunter Andre Eric Carla Rosemarie Jordan Damien Dawn Piper Heather

That's a list of all the kids that live at Court in age order. Since their parents already live at Court, none of them attend boarding school. Lissa loves her kids too much so she just set up a school there. There might be some other kids from people there but no one else really matters. Brandie technically graduated but she still hangs out with the others. Of course, the majority of the kids are Moroi, so they only need two guardians to teach the dhampirs. Dimka teaches them even though he protects Christian. Christian now teaches a self defense class to the Moroi. Since there has been a rise in Moroi's using their magic to fight Strigoi, Lissa was able to raise the Dhamphir's graduation age back to 18. All the Moroi kids over 13 have specialized. Brandie – Water Chrissie – Fire Emilia - Fire Beatrice – Air Hunter – Air Andre – Fire Eric – Water.


	2. The Real Chapter 1

**New Tracks: Chapter 1**

I got out of the gate and was instantly craning my neck, searching for a face I only knew in photos. It didn't take me long. My cousin and her family stood out to me pretty quickly. Then again, dhampirs can always tell their own kind apart from regular humans. She spotted me and my friend about the same time I saw her.

"Lucya! Lucya over here!" she called, waving her arms back and forth. I shook my head. It might have been ten years since I had last seen Zoya but she still hadn't changed a bit. I made my way over towards her and the rest of the family, my friend Emilia sticking close to me. The minute I was close enough, Zoya threw herself at me, giving me a giant hug that all her children joined.

"Hello Zoya," I said, trying to breath. I finally got out of her hug and picked up the youngest of her four children, a little boy named Alex. "Hello to you too," I said in Russian. He giggled and squirmed out of my hold back to his mother.

My grandmother stepped forward to get her turn for a hug, also giving Emilia a hug too. Poor Emi, she must have felt so out of place. I squeezed her hand to let her know it would be all right. "How was your flight Lucya?" Grandmother asked me, studying my face. "Did you girls have a good trip? No delays I see,"

"It was fine," I said, smiling.

My aunt Sonya looked over at Emilia. "So this is your friend you are always telling Zoya and Sasha about. The Dragomir princess," she smiled warmly and hugged Emilia too. "It's a pleasure for us to have you,"

"No, no I should be thanking you for having me," Yep, that was Emilia. Just like Aunt Lissa. Always polite, poised and proper. Then there was me. My dad said that my attitude and fighting nature were genetic and I can see that. Both my parents were badass, which makes me badass squared. Sure, my mom was a little rough around the edges, but a lot of her friends thought that I took after my dad more. Of course, they didn't know just how much him and her were a like. The only real difference between them was my dad's impressive self-control.

Aunt Viktoria brought me back to the airport. "So let's see it," she said excitedly, grabbing my shoulder and trying to spin me. I skillfully ducked out of her grip and lifted my long dark hair off my neck, already knowing what they were looking for. I heard the gasp as they studied the sole _molnija _mark on my neck. I didn't smile, death wasn't something to be proud of. Both my mom and grandmother had told me that.

Zoya clapped me on the shoulder. "Now you're just like your mother eh? You Hathaways are always setting records? Our Dimka picked a good one that's for sure,"

Oh yeah, that's something I should probably tell you about. See, my dad, whose family I was now visiting in Russia is the ace guardian Dimitri Belikov of the Queen's husband, Lord Christian Ozera. My mom, who is the main royal court guardian of the Queen herself, Vasilisa Dragomir, is Rose Hathaway. Do you see what I'm saying here? I am the first fully dhamphir child. Ever.

Talk about setting records.

Okay for anyone who might be new to this, there's a few things you need to make common knowledge. Fact one, there are vampires in this world. Fact two, yes, those vampires do suck blood, but usually its not to kill and its not always from humans. Fact three, fact two is the way it is because there are three different types of vampires. There are the pure vampires, the Moroi, who are dainty, tall, have the ability to control elements of nature and need a little blood to get by. Then there are Dhampirs, a hybrid originally of humans and Moroi but a mix of Moroi and Dhampir makes Dhampirs too. Still half human, half Moroi. Don't ask me why, that's just the way it works. So by that knowledge, a Dhampir and Dhampir should have a Dhampir baby. Nope. For some reason, that I'm sure someone much smarter than me can explain, we can't reproduce with each other. It has never happened, except for me and that was under some pretty weird conditions. I know, this is a lot to process but I'm sure you can handle it.

Now onto the third kind of vampire. Those are Strigoi and they. are. evil. With a passion. They are the ones that humans should fear. They are the ones that haunt your dreams and the reason that people go missing unexplainably. They torture and kill because they enjoy it, its fun for them. Messed up right? Wait until I tell you how their made. That's right, made not born. You can take any human, dhampir or Moroi and turn them into this monster if you're already Strigoi. You take a bunch of their blood, they give you a little of theirs. Now, if you're a Moroi, there's a second option to becoming a monster. You kill someone while drinking. You trade your soul and mortality for Strigoi life because that gains you immortality, speed and super strength.

Sounds like a huge problem right? Especially since Strigois' favorite meal is Moroi, who aren't that capable of defending themselves. This is where Dhampirs are needed. We are trained from childhood to protect Moroi. They come first. Its been our motto since we started protecting. We need the Moroi to continue our race, since children like me are, well, unique. Both my parents are guardians so I will be too. I chose that life more than ten years ago when Emilia and Chrissie Jr. asked me to be their friend.

That's all you really need for now. Let's get back to the airport I'm in right now. My sixteenth birthday gift this year was to get to go to Baia, Russia and see my family, taking Emilia with me of course. It's June and a big part of my family came to meet me. That means a very crowded eight hour car ride through Siberia. And before you even go there, I'm not talking about winter wasteland Siberia. I'm talking about south Siberia, it's beautiful in the summer with flowers and rolling hills.

So anyway, there was some more hugging and soon we all piled into a borrowed minivan that was mad for nine people. There were 11 of us on the way back, not to mention luggage. It was very squishy. Stepan was driving the car with Grandma Olena in the passenger seat giving directions. My aunts Sonya and Viktoria sat in the front with Zoya. In the back it was me, Emilia and Zoya's oldest child Natasha in her car seat. The other kids were being held, each of us taking turns.

I was bouncing Peter, another of Zoya's kids, on my knee. Emilia was staring out the window at the passing landscape, her arms wrapped around Peter' s twin Klara. She and Peter were have a baby talk conversation and I thought it was adorable. Eventually, Klara looked up at me and pointed.

"You?" she asked in Russian. I smiled. So they could talk a bit.

"Lucya,"

She pointed up at Emilia. "Her?"

"Emi," Emilia flashed me a look of annoyance. She hated her name being shortened.

I shrugged. "She's only two. Your name is a mouthful,"

Peter smiled at us. "Pretty!" he exclaimed tugging a lock of my hair. He pointed at me now. "Mark," I guessed what he was seeing.

Klara squirmed, trying to see my mark too. She looked up at Emilia. "Mark?" she asked.

"No, she doesn't have one,"

Zoya turned around in the seat in front of me. "I see you four are getting along," . Alex waved at me from his mother's lap. "Did it hurt when they put it on your neck?"

"Nah, just stung a little," Emi giggled.

"Is that why you cried afterwards," I blushed as Zoya burst out laughing.

"You know I hate needles!"

"So what happened exactly?" My aunt Viktoria asked.

Grandma Olena scowled. "Viktoria, this is not the time. Lucya will tell us when she's ready,"

I touched the mark on my neck. It had been pure luck really. I thought back to that night.

Emilia and me had decided to go shopping for a dance that was to be held at Court soon. My mother had been given the night off and had decided to join us. I didn't admit it at the time, but I felt so much safer with her there. Before we had left though, my father had pulled me aside.

"Be careful out there," he told me.

I smiled at him. "Mom is with us, we'll be fine Dad,"

He nodded. "I know that Lucya, but I can't help but shake this feeling I have," He reached into his duster pocket and produced a silver stake. My eyes widened in surprise. "You know how to use this right," I nodded.

"Why are you giving me this Dad? Do you really think something bad is going to happen to us?"

His eyes softened. "I hope not, but better two armed guardians then one right?" he said. I smiled and nodded. "Don't tell your mother I let you have this. She'd have a field day, especially since I didn't let her touch one until she was almost 18,"

I put it in my boot. "I promise," He smiled at me and gave me a huge hug.

"Have fun sweetheart," he said in Russian. He looked me in the eyes again. "And don't you dare buy anything too short or clingy,"

"Dad!"

"I don't like the way some of the boys here have been looking at you Lucya,"

"Dad!"

"Especially Chrissie. You guys might be friends but some boys cannot control their hormones,"

I sighed. "It's fine Dad," I told him. "I'll buy something flouncy and at my knees to make you happy. Don't worry,"

I went outside to catch up with my mom and Emilia. "What was that about honey?" my mom asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh you know Dad. Just making sure I don't buy anything inappropriate,"

My mom smiled. "We'll see about that,"

We had driven to the nearby mall and shopped around for a while. Emilia had decided on a beautiful sea foam green dress that had a halter top. It went to her knees and matched her eyes really well.

"I think a designer bun would be a great hairstyle with it, don't you think?" I asked her as she admired it in the mirror.

"Maybe," she went to take it off. I looked around the racks a bit, studying a few. My mom watched us as we shopped, every now and then glancing around, her posture at attention. So much for her day off. Finally, I decided on a no strap dress in a dark purple. It hugged my top but was loose from the hips down. It ended above my knees but oh well.

My mom smiled. "I like it," she told me, glancing at the price tag. Not too much. "We'll get some matching earrings and a pair of heels and you'll be ready to knock them dead,"

We paid for the dresses and accessories. It was getting almost closing time so we headed out to the car. We were almost there when Emilia grabbed my arm.

"Look!" she pointed smiling. I followed her hand to a smoothie shop.

"It's a smoothie shop. We can make one at home for less," I told her, tugging her hand.

She rolled her eyes. "That's not just any smoothie shop. They make the best smoothies in the world! I need to get one,"

I looked over at my mom. "Go on ahead while we get princess here an overpriced beverage," I told my mom. She smiled and headed out.

"B-32," she reminded me.

Emilia got in line for the smoothie with me right behind her. I might as well see what the big fuss was about. She got something called Rainforest Explosion while I played it safe with a A Berry Twist. I had to admit, it was pretty good.

We headed out, laughing and drinking. It was almost 11 and there were last minute shoppers all around us. We had parked close the back of the mall and started the long walk.

We had only gone a few feet before we were alone. And only a few more steps before I noticed that it was darker than it was suppose to be. A quick check showed that the lights weren't on here and all the cars were gone. I grabbed Emilia's arm and she stopped talking.

"What is it?" she whispered, clutching my arm. I put a finger to my lips. Slowly, I reached down into my boot, pulling out the stake hidden there. Emilia turned around, her back to mine and her hands up. I thought for a second that I had over reacted but then the feeling hit me. I became suddenly sick to my stomach.

I barely made out his footsteps before he was on us. Still it was a good thing that I heard him at all because he went for Emilia first. Moroi were usually the weaker target. Not to mention that Strigoi enjoy their blood more. Too bad for him I was already expecting it.

As he lunged out of the darkness, I flipped around Emilia and threw my fist out, catching him in the stomach and knocking the breath out of him. The stake was already out and I went straight for his heart but I was in a bad position and only succeeded in getting myself back handed. I staggered back, recovered and charged back in. We battled at each other for what seemed like hours. Emilia said later that it looked almost like dancing. I kept myself between her and our attacker the best I could. This guy was good though, and eventually got through my defenses, knocking me off my feet as I opened a deep cut on his arm. I hit the ground and instantly jumped back up but he was already almost on top of her.

"No!" I called out running towards them. I saw Emilia raise her hand, concentrate and a fireball flew from her hands onto the Strigoi. It was small but it did the job. He instantly started to freak out as the flames caught. It was all I needed. He turned around and started to run and I staked him before he had gone five feet. He started gurgling and thrashing against my hold but I just shoved it deeper.

He looked straight into my eyes, his red ringed pupils wide. "Belikov," he whispered as I drove it home, piercing his heart. Then his body went slack and I let him drop.

"What the hell?" I said to myself as my mother came running up.

"Lucya are you all right?" she asked, her face covered in horror. "Where did you get a stake? Did he say anything? Is that a bruise?"

I hugged her, shaken. "I'm okay Mom," I reassured her. "And Dad gave me the stake, just in case,"

"I'm just glad you're alive! I don't know what I would do…," She gulped and I was surprised to see my own mother in tears.

Emilia came over and wrapped her arms around me. "You were amazing," I told her, hugging her.

Her dark hair was covering her face but I could feel her tears soaking in my shirt. She didn't say anything but I could tell it had been emotionally draining. We walked away from the body and sat down on the ground, just keeping quiet. My mother had pulled out her phone and was talking rapidly to someone on the other end.

"Okay Sydney thanks," My mom was saying. "Yes, yes we'll wait right here. What? No, its not going to be like Russia," My mom laughed. "Well, this one was definitely a new one, probably how they were able to overtake him. Yeah, I'll make sure no one sees it until you get here. See you soon Sydney," She hung up the phone and punched in another number.

"Hi Honey," she said sweetly into the phone. "You will never believe what happened to your daughter a few minutes ago. Hmmm? Oh no, I think you should hear it from her since you obviously don't need to tell me when you think something might happen to her or when you think its time to give her a stake," she was quiet for a second before cutting my dad off. "We will not bring that up over the phone. Just talk to your daughter," She handed me the phone and stormed away, probably to check if anyone had seen the commotion.

"Lucya?" My dad's strained voice came over the phone.

"Hi Papa," I said

"Lucya, what happened?"

"A Strigoi attacked us as Emilia and I were going back to the car," Emilia looked up at me, her eyes puffy. "Emilia used her fire to distract him and I staked him," I stated plainly. Emilia squeezed her eyes shut and I hugged her again.

"As long as you're all right,"

"A few bruises, but we're good," I switched to Russian. "Papa, I think this Strigoi knew you or knew of you,"

"Why? What did he say?"

"Just our last name. Belikov," I paused. "Do you think he was sent on a mission?"

My dad was silent for a minute. "I don't know what to think. We'll talk about it when you get home all right?"

"Okay," I answered. "I'll see you soon. Love you,"

"Love you Lucya," I hung up the phone just as a black SUV rolled into the parking lot. A blonde women stepped out and walked over to us. I could see the faint outline of a golden tattoo on her cheek.

She looked us over and then at the body. "Guess I better take care of that first," she muttered to herself. She took the few steps to it and pulled out a camera, snapping a picture of his face. Next, she took a bottle from her pocket and sprinkled a few drops over the body. Before our eyes the Strigoi seemed to dissolve into thin air. I heard Emilia gasp and I couldn't blame her. It wasn't anything we had seen before.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"Sydney," she said, placing the bottle back into her pocket. "You must be Lucya. Where is your mother?"

"She went scouting for witnesses," I said just as my mom walked up.

She smiled at the women. "Hey Sydney, guess you all cleaned up already huh?"

Sydney shrugged. "We all have our jobs. Glad to see you still doing yours,"

"Amazing isn't it? I see you've met Lucya and the Lissa's oldest daughter Emilia. These two are quite the team,"

Sydney looked down at us. "Really? Never would have guessed," Her eyes settled on me. "She's grown quite a bit since I last saw her. Doesn't quite have your stomach for violence does she?"

My mom shrugged. "It's their first kill. The shock is settling in. It can be disturbing, especially when it happens so quickly,"

Sydney took one last look at us before answering my mom. "Yeah. Well, the important thing is your safe. It was nice to see you Rose. Give my regards to Dimitri. Nice to see you Lucya and it was a pleasure to meet you Princess Dragomir," With that Sydney handed my mother one of the photos and went back to her car.

"Bye Sydney! Still have the same model I see,"

"What can I say? When you find something that works, keep it,"

After that my mom kind of rushed us into the car and drove us home. I was so tired and just kind of conked out on the way back, my head leaning on Emilia's shoulder…

I blinked my eyes a few times and was surprised to find myself in the backseat of the minivan. Wasn't I just in my mom's car?

"Hey there sleepy head," Emilia said to me, smiling. "I guess you're more jetlagged than we thought," I yawned and stretched as best I could in the cramped space.

That's right I was in Russia with Emilia. I looked out the window and squinted. "How long have I been out?" I asked her, staring at the low sun.

"A few hours I guess. We stopped for food a while ago. Got you a burger cause I knew you'd be hungry,"

Actually, I was starving. "Smells delicious," I opened the bag and pulled out a mega sized burger. "Thank you very much,"

Zoya stared at me from over the seat. "There is no way you can eat that whole thing plus the fries and shake,"

"Is that a challenge Cousin?"

Grandma Olena smiled at me. "Zoya, you've never seen your Uncle Dimitri and Aunt Roza eat. Trust me, she can finish it,"

And I did much to Zoya's surprise. Soon after that we stopped again, this time at a minimart a ways of the highway.

"You need to do some shopping Grandma?"

Olena pursed her lips. "Lucya, I'm sure you know that Emilia and yourself weren't just sent here for a vacation,"

My heart fell. Of course I had had my suspicions but still. "Papa's hiding us isn't he?"

Grandma Olena nodded. "He didn't want us to tell you until you got here," she admitted.

Emilia caught my eye and we exchanged a look. That was just like Papa to keep information from us.

"So what now?" Emilia asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

I shrugged. "I guess for now we go with it," That had been my theory for most of my life. If you weren't sure what to do, roll with it.

Life is just easier that way.


	3. How it Began

**New Tracks: Chapter 2**

The good news? We were back on the road in less than an hour. The bad? We were split up and I was not getting to go to Baia. At least not yet. Apparently, that was just too obvious, especially if the Strigoi were looking for Papa or his family. This was all explained to me as I sat pouting in the back of the rent a car.

Grandma Olena was telling me the plan. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I wish I could have told you earlier but you know how your father gets. It took him months to come and tell us he was back," she patted my hand and I smiled. The time Papa spent as a Strigoi was a topic that didn't come up at a lot of family meals.

See, apparently when my mother was young, Papa was turned and then unturned thanks to Aunt Lissa into a Strigoi. He won't talk about it and Mom usually tries to stay away from the subject too. She's secretly thankful for it now because she thinks the healing had something to do with how I ended up being born. But I don't really want to go into details on my conception. That's one mind scarring I don't need thank you very much.

Of course, just me being born is a miracle in itself. Like I've said before, dhampirs shouldn't be able to have kids, yet here I am. (And yes, there were some blood tests involved to make sure, even though Mom told Papa that there was no way I wasn't his daughter). So when I was first born Papa had to hid me away.

Watching the hills of southern Siberia pass by, I thought back to the last time I was here about ten years ago, hiding from the world just as I was now. I felt myself dozing off again, leaning against Emilia's shoulder. As I closed my eyes I could hear children's laughter in my ear and I was transported back to that last day in Baia.

"Levi!" I called after my older cousin. "Levi, wait up!" I stumbled after him as my church dress got caught on the brambles as I ran after him.

"You're going to have to be faster than then that if you want some of Grandma's Easter eggs Lucya!" he taunted me. Up ahead I could see him waving a blue and green egg back and forth that Grandma had hidden.

"Hey she said those ones were for me Levi!" I yelled after him. I caught up and jumped for it but he had at least four inches on me. "Give it! You're not playing fair!" I accused him, putting my hands on my hips.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers,"

My bottom lip began to tremble. "I'm going to tell Aunt Viktoria on you, you meanie," I turned around and promptly ran into my Papa, who was a giant to me back then. I used to think I could see the whole world from on top of his shoulders. He smiled down at me and patted my head.

"Now now my little Roza, what would your mother say to me if she heard you had become a tattletale?"

I hiccupped a bit, fighting back tears. You didn't cry in my house. We were a guardian family after all. "But Papa what am I suppose to do?" He smiled and kneeled down next to my ear, whispering. My eyes lit up and I got a huge grin on my face.

Five minutes later I had a basket filled with blue green Easter eggs and Levi was nursing a fat lip I had just given him. He gave me the evil eye and I just stuck my tongue out at him. "You're a boy, you can take it," I told him, repeating what Papa had just told me. Papa chuckled and put me on his shoulders so I could see the world.

When we got home Papa got Levi an ice pack before going into the living room. I had already settled on the kitchen floor with my other cousins who had gotten home and was eating my chocolate. Paul was watching us from the table, having been given the day off by his Moroi. I looked up at him expectantly.

"What? You think I have a treat for you just because it's Easter?" he asked me. I didn't take my eyes off him and with a sigh he pulled a cookie and marshmallow sandwich out of his pocket. I smiled wide and ripped open the wrapper. Papa smiled at me one last time and went out of the room.

"Thank you Paulie," I mumbled through the food. He shook his head and went back to his book, something that Papa had given him for Easter. I licked my fingers and crawled up into his lap, looking down at the words and pointing out the few I recognized. "What's this one about Paulie?"

He shook his head and turned the page, ignoring me. I frowned and smacked him on the side of the head. He looked at me and sighed again. He might act like we kids tortured him but he loved us all like crazy. That's why he always brought us goodies. "It's a cowboy book," he told me.

"Of course it is, Papa gave it to you. That's all he reads,"

He smiled. "And he reads you these books for a bedtime story right?"

I nodded. "He edits out some parts though," There was a knock at the front door and I heard Grandma get up to get it. "So which one is this one?"

"_All the Pretty Horses_," he told me. "Has he read you that one?"

I shook my head. "Not that I remember. What's the main character's name?"

"John, he's sixteen,"

"Oh," Paul began to explain the book as I traced patterns on the kitchen table. He had just started telling me about John's friend Jimmy when Papa came back into the room followed by a stranger with brown hair and blue green eyes like my Easter eggs. This guy had an easy smile about him but even to me it was obvious he was nervous here. I didn't get why, Grandma's house was one of the safest places on Earth.

Papa picked me up from Paul's lap and took me over to greet the stranger. He smiled at me. "Hello Lucya, it's nice to meet you," he spoke with a terrible accent.

I tightened my grip on Papa's shoulder. "Hello," I replied, eying him warily.

"Lucya," Papa said slowly "I'd like you to meet my… friend Adrian Ivashkov,"

Adrian waved at me. "You can call me Uncle,"

Papa gave "Uncle Adrian" a hard smile and handed me over to Grandma before taking him to the other room and talking to him in a different language. Meanwhile Grandma took me upstairs to the room I shared with my cousins and aunts.

"Grandma, what's going on?" I asked her. "Why is that man here? I don't like him,"

She scolded me. "Lucya that's a terrible thing to say. You don't even know him. He's here to help you and Papa,"

I crossed my arms. "How? We have everything we need," Something about Adrian gave me the creeps.

She smiled at me and shook her head. "You remind me so much of your mother sometimes Lucya Roza," I glanced at the picture on the nightstand as she said so. It showed a beautiful women with dark hair holding a tiny, bald infant. I picked it up and smiled. I hadn't met her yet but Papa told me all sorts of wonderful stories about my American mother. I knew he missed her.

"I can't wait to see her. Grandma, when is she coming to see us?"

"She's not. You're going to her," I spun around and stared in amazement.

"When?" I asked eagerly.

"Tonight. That is why Adrian is here. He's helping with some paper work,"

"And then we're coming back right?" Grandma didn't answer me. "Right Grandma? I said a bit louder. Grandma was just about to answer me when there was a knock at the door. I opened it up to find a tall girl with dirty blonde hair and eyes just like my Easter eggs standing there.

"Hello," she said nervously, glancing around the room. "I'm Brandie," she stuck out her hand and I just stared at it until she dropped it. "I'm here to help pack, Dad made me a list," she said with the same accent as Adrian. I let her in to give Grandma the list and then she left. "It was nice to meet you,"

Grandma studied it for a minute before throwing some things into a suitcase she had open on the floor. Already in it was Papa's extra cowboy duster. "He'd never forgive me if I forgot it," she muttered to herself. She finished packing and led me downstairs to the living room where everyone was waiting.

Adrian jumped up as if he couldn't wait to leave. He said a few more words to my dad before leaving the house, Brandie right on his heels.

Papa came over to me, a sad , gentle look in his eyes. I always hated that look. The last time he had it was to tell me my pet bunny had run away. "Lucya, you have to go say good bye to everyone now. We're leaving to be with your mother,"

"But we'll be back soon, won't we Papa," I held back my tears, but the expected truth was just too terrible.

Papa paused. "Not for a long while little Roza," he said quietly. I felt my lip quiver and I turned away from Papa to run upstairs to Great Grandma Yeva, who was sitting quietly in her bed. I climbed on the bed and hugged her.

"Oh, what's wrong my angel? Are you sad you will have to go now?" I looked up into her eyes and nodded. She smiled down at me and patted her head. "You know you will be back to see me again," she told me.

"You won't leave until then right?" I asked her urgently.

"Of course not," She paused and reached for a box on her side table. "Here, keep this safe for me. Don't open yet though," she told me, handing it over. I turned the box over and looked at her.

"When will I get to open it?"

"Oh, you'll know when," she promised. I glanced at it again before giving her a huge hug.

"Good bye GranGran Yeva,"

"Good bye my dear, I love you. And remember, be brave in that America. People aren't as nice there as they are here. And some of them are just plain rude,"

I smiled at her. "Okay," After that I went back downstairs and said good bye to the rest of the family while Papa went upstairs. Soon he came back down to collect me and we were off in "Uncle" Adrian's limo to the airport and to our new lives with my mother that I had never known.


End file.
